A GREAT Sankey man has completed the London Marathon in memory of his baby son who died from meningitis six years ago.

Rob Roach, aged 36, of Brightwell Close, Great Sankey, ran the 26.2 mile race in five hours 51 minutes and 47 seconds, raising more than £3,700 for national charity Meningitis Research Foundation (MRF).

Rob was spurred on to raise cash for the charity that funds research into preventing, detecting and treating meningitis after he lost his eight-month-old son, Mikey, to the disease in November 2003.

The contracts manager for a construciton company, said: “Mikey was a beautiful, cheeky and healthy baby boy who brought a lot of pleasure to his family and their friends.

“He became ill with a temperature – there was no rash or any other symptoms. We took him to hospital and were fairly certain we would be taking him home the next day but it went from bad to worse.

“Mikey did not get the characteristic rash until he was already gravely ill in the intensive care unit – babies and infants do not show the symptoms of meningitis until the infection is already widespread.

“I ran the marathon to raise money for the MRF to help find a cure and raise awareness of this devastating illness so that nobody has to go through this.

“The impact on family, friends, neighbours and colleagues is devastating.”

Rob and his wife Caroline were told Mikey died from Pneumoccocal Septicaemia a violent strain of meningitis.

There are nine cases of meningitis and septicaemia in the UK every day, resulting in six deaths a week and leaving survivors with after-effects such as brain damage, deafness and amputations.

Rob added: “This was my first marathon and the experience was amazing.

The weather was really hot but the support from the crowd was great and knowing that we’re raising money for such a good cause in memory of Mikey kept me going.

“I’d hoped to put in a quicker time but ended up walking from 20 to 25 miles as I picked up an injury. I did however put on a sprint finish to avoid being beaten by someone dressed as a rhino and to overtake someone dressed as Mr Tickle.”